title: Validity of the Sheltered Care Environment Scale: conceptual and methodological issues.
abstract: The Sheltered Care Environment Scale (SCES) was developed primarily to measure social climate as an attribute of a setting. As such, the SCES was designed to maximize differences between facilities and minimize differences among individuals within a setting. However, Smith and Whitbourne (1990) assessed the validity of the SCES as a measure of individual differences in perceptions of a shared environment. Moreover, they redefined the content coverage of 2 of the SCES subscales (Independence and Physical Comfort), to encompass attributes the SCES is not intended to measure. In general, preliminary evidence indicates that the SCES subscales provide reasonably reliable and valid indices of the social climate of group residential facilities.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Veterans Affairs Medical Ctr, Social Ecology Lab, Palo Alto, CA.
authors.forename: Sonne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemke
authors.forename: Rudolf H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Moos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D011594:Psychometrics; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception